His father was a Pentecostalist preacher and in his teens Fragell also began working full-time as a preacher, before his studies in philosophy and comparative religion led him to leave the church. He took a University degree in the sociology of religion and then worked for a year as a school teacher in northern Norway, before becoming a journalist, and later working in marketing. He also became press secretary to several cabinet ministers in Norway.[1][2]
In 1976, he became leader of the Norwegian Humanist Association (Human-Etisk Forbund) at a time when it had 1500 members; its membership later grew to over 75,000 making it, as a proportion of national population, the largest such organisation in the world.[citation needed] He joined the board of the IHEU in the 1980s, becoming its co-president in 1987 and sole president between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[3] He later became Chair of the IHEU's Committee on Growth and Development, and has travelled widely to promote humanism, oppose racism and religious intolerance. In 2008, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the IHEU.[2]Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, conferred the Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa) on Fragell, he delivered the 21st Convocation Address on 4 July 2014 of the University.[4][5]
^"Notable Signers". Humanism and Its Aspirations. American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
